When automotive industry leader Edmunds faced the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19 in March 2020, they needed to quickly pivot their communications strategy while maintaining their position as America’s most trusted car shopping resource. With millions of consumers uncertain about major purchases during lockdowns and economic disruption, Edmunds leveraged their unique dual role as both a category-leading brand and top media publication to launch their “COVID-19 Response” campaign.
Founded in the 1960s as a paperback newsstand publication, Edmunds has evolved into one of the 21st century’s most beloved automotive resources, recognized by Fortune as one of America’s best companies to work for. Their Santa Monica-based team of in-house automotive experts had built a reputation as the authoritative source for objective car-shopping information, but the pandemic required them to prove their communications could drive measurable business results during the industry’s most challenging period.
The Challenge: Balancing Multiple Objectives During Crisis
As both a leading automotive brand and trusted media publication serving consumers and businesses, Edmunds faced the complex challenge of simultaneously achieving three critical PR objectives: raising brand awareness and top-of-mind consideration as an automotive authority, driving consumer traffic back to their website for reviews and content engagement, and highlighting unique market insights to position themselves as a valued business partner to automakers and dealers.
The COVID-19 crisis added unprecedented complexity, requiring rapid strategy adjustments while continuously monitoring competitors’ responses and measuring performance against the industry during a period of significant disruption. Success demanded moving beyond traditional volume metrics to demonstrate superior content quality, audience engagement, and direct business impact compared to competitors’ crisis response efforts.
The Solution: Quality-Focused Crisis Communications Strategy
Edmunds leveraged their proven thought-leadership approach, positioning the brand as the authoritative source of consumer and market insights through their in-house team of automotive experts. The “COVID-19 Response” campaign provided highly relevant content addressing pressing customer needs—from financial payment relief to car price fluctuations—delivered in a way that felt like expert advice from a trusted friend.
Working with Onclusive, Edmunds measured campaign success through a comprehensive framework focusing on press coverage quality and competitive performance, including share of voice for volume comparison, Power of Voice™ for quality assessment, social media amplification for trending coverage analysis, and target media placements for media relations effectiveness. Their unique content partnership with Associated Press enabled syndication of expert editorials across hundreds of local and national publications.
“With the Onclusive platform, we are able to track the metrics that matter. Our communications metrics are integrated into our overall marketing performance measurement framework, and we can show our C-Suite executives how earned media KPIs like Power of Voice tie into the company’s business objectives. We’ve been using Onclusive since 2016, and being able to look back at historical data year-over-year is also highly valuable to our leadership and particularly important in unusual times like these.”
Associate Director of PR and Communications, Edmunds
Measurable Results That Demonstrated Crisis Leadership
Edmunds’ strategic approach delivered exceptional results that established clear industry leadership during the most challenging period in automotive history:
Strategic Benefits
- 57% Share of Voice and 59% Power of Voice™, demonstrating both volume leadership and superior content quality
- 68% social media amplification, significantly outperforming competitors in audience engagement
- 43% competitive share in target media placements, achieving #1 position across key publications
- Successful integration across consumer media (The New York Times, USA Today), automotive publications (Car and Driver), business outlets (Bloomberg), and broadcast media (Good Morning America)
The campaign’s most significant achievement was establishing Edmunds as the first industry voice to compile comprehensive car payment relief options for consumers, consistently dominating coverage with actionable advice during the crisis. Their Power of Voice™ leadership demonstrated not just volume but superior content relevance, publication authority, and social amplification compared to all competitors.
“A robust thought leadership strategy that leverages unique data and insights can not only position your brand as a trusted authority for the media, but also ultimately help you win when it comes to media coverage, even in times of crisis and uncertainty.”
Associate Director of PR and Communications, Edmunds
Ready to transform your crisis communications into competitive advantage?
Onclusive’s comprehensive measurement platform helps automotive and industry leaders like yours:
- Measure content quality beyond traditional volume metrics with Power of Voice™
- Track social media amplification to understand true audience engagement
- Demonstrate PR’s integration with overall marketing performance frameworks
- Prove communications ROI through historical data analysis and competitive benchmarking
Speak with our experts today to learn how we can help you dominate your industry during challenging times.
Access the complete Edmunds COVID-19 Response campaign analysis here.
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